EL ESPECTADOR, EL MUNDO, EL TIEMPO (Colombia)
BOGOTA- Colombia’s FARC rebels have announced the end of a two-month unilateral ceasefire after the Colombian government refused to join the truce.
Photo: FARC flag via Wikipedia
The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, declared the ceasefire when peace talks with the government began on Nov. 19 in Havana, Cuba – giving the Colombian government two months to join the truce.
Ivan Marquez, the FARC lead negociator, told reporters that “with pain in our hearts, we have to accept a return to the stage of warfare between the two sides which is something that nobody in the country wants,” reports El Mundo.
President Juan Manuel Santos warned the rebels against resuming violence and said: “Terrorist acts are cowardly acts because they don’t fight against soldiers or members of the police force, they inflict damage on civil society,” according to El Tiempo.
El Espectador reports that several incidents during the ceasefire period shows that some FARC members did not obey the truce and makes it clear that the leaders, including negotiator Ivan Marquez, do not have complete control over their men.
Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 17 2012 there were 57 incidents that involved civilians and a demand was issued to the group “to abide by the rules of international humanitarian law” by the national ombudsman Jorge Armando Otalora.
